Las Vegas (NV) - As 1080p and Blu-ray have become mainstream in the high-definition landscape, and as we are trying to figure out how Internet content streaming will impact the future of Blu-ray, Toshiba presented its vision for entertainment enthusiasts who are looking for more than just HDTV - Quad HDTV. The company is expected to be first to be providing a device that will be able of hitting 4K resolutions.

HD DVD has been officially dead for almost a year now and Blu-ray has taken over the HD media role for now. Strangely enough, Blu-ray is a non-topic so far at CES 2009 - and is trumped by presentations about Wireless HD as well as Internet content streaming. Toshiba is still not offering Blu-ray players and today said that it won’t introduce such players in 2009 either. Instead, the company is relying on enhanced feature sets in three new Regza TV families, which will include LED backlighting (edge lighting as well as full matrix lighting), 240 Hz effect technology as well as Resolution+ 1080p upscaling, which, according to the company, will deliver a near-HD viewing experience.

Resolution+ scales beyond 1080p but is limited by the processing capabilities in today’s TVs. To break this barrier, Toshiba said that it has developed Cell TV, an Apple TV-like set-top box with integrated Cell processor, which can take 1080p (1920x1080 pixel) pictures to 2160p (3840x2160), commonly referred to as Quad-HDTV, or simply 4K. Described as “not your ordinary TV”, Toshiba will position the device as the “top-end of the top-end” of TV viewing. The device will have Wireless HD connectivity and will be able to record up to six HD channels simultaneously.

Cell TV will be released later this year, but no matter whether this device will be on retail shelves for a few hundred or a few thousand dollars, consumers will still have to buy a Quad-HDTV to take advantage of the upscaling feature. Such TVs are currently sold only to enterprise customers and cost about $50,000 (which will get you a model in the 50“ range.)

If Cell TV is in fact capable of delivering the picture quality Toshiba promises, the company may have come up with a new technology that allows consumers to look beyond Blu-ray.

We may all relish in our collective Blu-ray victory, but don't diminish the power this company has in terms of development and know-how. Toshiba will bounce back from their loss to Blu-ray. Is this it? I don't know, but you can bet your life that this company will be continuing to make wonderful products and introduce new technologies.

I saw a demo of their current upscaling tv where they are basically saying "don't worry about blu-ray, just use our upscaling tv's to watch your existing DVD's"

It was nothing special and looked no better than my PS3 upscaling DVD's.

I really don't know why Toshiba are throwing money at alternatives to blu-ray; just accept what happened and make a blu-ray player. They are going to lose even more money in the long run if they continue to ignore the reality.

Toshiba is so eager to do what Sony did and back the next big thing, but they ignore the famous saying, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em".

They will lose money this way if they continue to try to do this. Blu - ray is still a luxury item compared to DVD, and it just won't happen anytime soon. Blu - ray is still too expensive for most people.

... Such TVs are currently sold only to enterprise customers and cost about $50,000 (which will get you a model in the 50“ range.) ....

It's not even a consumer technology. 4K screens have existed a while. They are used by animation studios like Pixar, for example. Movies are made to project at 4K in large theater screeens. blu-ray is still the "dumbed down" version for home use.

Toshiba is shunning the blu-ray consumer market and looking to studios. Even with all the millionaires in the world, this technology does not represent a consumer mass market index. At least, not for the time being.

I used to be a huge Toshiba user in the past, with purchases including my very first DVD player, VCRs, a few TVs, and a DVD recorder. However, I can't see myself buying another product from them anytime soon.

Any company that steadfastly ignores industry trends and development out of pure spite doesn't deserve my attention or money at all. Every other company is trying to deliver great products within the standards set forth by the industry. I'd rather work with any one of those companies right now than Toshiba.